I recently received an invitation, by someone filling YouTube with lottery videos, to join or start my own lottery pool with people all over the world. There is a website I will not mention that is claiming this is all legal, because one member of each group buys the tickets at a local retailer in their respective province/state/country, etc.

Depending upon your country’s laws, being the lottery pool captain and having money transferred into your account could lead to an audit, and you could be taxed on the money as income. Depending on where you live, it could also be viewed as though you are running an illegal gaming operation, and you could lose everything you own.

Scenario #1
Someone could run a lottery pool out of Canada with a group of 100 players and with 99 of them not living in Canada. The tickets purchased win a $30 million dollar jackpot, which is tax-free in Canada. The lottery captain shows up to claim the winning ticket by himself, saying it was his ticket only. Someone in South Africa, Greece, Italy, Norway, Russia, etc would have no legal claim under Canadian laws. The other 99 people — non-residents of Canada — would be out any money paid and would not share the wealth.

Scenario #2
Someone could run a lottery pool out of Canada with 100 players putting in $10 each and with 99 of those players not living in Canada. The tickets were NEVER purchased. Players check and see their group’s numbers were the winning numbers, but the government lottery website shows no winner for the jackpot — meaning that their numbers were never played! Or a winner is announced with the group’s numbers, but this winner is in a different province from the group’s lottery captain (so-called purchaser of the tickets) — again, meaning the group’s numbers were not played by their representative. Someone in South Africa, Greece, Italy, Norway, Russia, etc would have no legal claim under Canadian laws. The other 99 people of this group would have been taken for a total of $990.

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Scenario #3You sign up for the online lottery pool opportunity and even claim the commission income as business income, wanting to be a legitimate business and claim various deductions like car & house expenses. You then find out after filing your tax return that your listed expenses such as car, house, computer, ISP, etc were all turned down, because according to your country’s laws you were running an illegal business. Fines or jail time could result.

People always think the grass is greener elsewhere. Playing the lottery as a group, pool, or syndicate is the most profitable way to increase your chance of a win. I would recommend you keep your groups limited to people in your own state or province. It is wiser to keep your players local — maybe within up to a 10 mile radius of the lottery captain’s home, or keep your lottery group limited to your place of work.

The gang at LotterySquirrel.com promotes the Play at Home — Win at Home philosophy. If you are on vacation or in another state, province, or country, by all means give the lottery there a chance if you feel inclined. In some countries, online lottery groups may be legal (for Americans or Canadians, we say forget it), but our advice is always consult with your local tax office, since they make and enforce the rules. Do not take the word of a friend, salesperson, YouTube video, or even a website that ALL IS LEGAL, SAFE & GUARANTEED.

Running a lottery pool, group, or syndicate could be a legal nightmare if not done right. The book 21 Lucky Lottery Tips offers some very useful tips for all aspects of playing the lottery — whether as a single player or with a lottery group.

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